VUMC Main Calendar Events

(closed October 12-15 for Fall Break and November 18-26 for Thanksgiving Break)

An exhibition of contemporary photographic portraits opens the fall exhibition season at the Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery on September 11, 2017. WHO ARE WE? IDENTITY AND THE CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHIC PORTRAIT examines how, in our image-saturated world, photographs have increasingly played a primary role in shaping identity.An opening reception will be held on Friday, September 15 from 5 to 7 pm in conjunction with Vanderbilt Parents’ and Family Weekend and Fall for the Arts. The exhibition will be on view through December 7, 2017.

As noted by Joseph Mella, director and curator, “Portraits, in all their diversity, serve not only the needs of the sitter and artist, but also those of the viewer. Portraits give us clues to who we are as humans and the possibilities of what we could become.” Instagram and other forms of social media dominate the cultural landscape while the reliance on photography in our own lives increasingly presents questions about representation and identity that artists continue to navigate in surprising ways. Who are we, indeed, and what do we wish to become, and just how easy can it be to craft our own identities?

The first in a three-part series on portraiture, WHO ARE WE? IDENTITY AND THE CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHIC PORTRAIT is organized by the Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery and curated by Joseph S. Mella, director, with support provided by The Ingram Commons and Leslie Cecil and Creighton Michael, MA’76.

Through the exceptional capabilities and caring spirit of its people, Vanderbilt will lead in improving the healthcare of individuals and communities regionally, nationally and internationally. We will combine our transformative learning programs and compelling discoveries to provide distinctive personalized care.